Gold on Vinyl: The Story of Sonic Boom
by spinalTapSoundGuy
Summary: In a pop-fueled society, Sonic, Tails, and friends form a band. Their mission: to revive the spirit of rock and roll.
1. Prologue: The Quest Begins

**From the mastermind who brought you Sonic the Hedgehog: Official Interviews comes a new album --- I mean, story.**

**Here's the deal, everybody: This story flows like a rock opera, meaning that I have written my own situational lyrics and interspersed them throughout the story. The melodies are in my head, so I can't really explain how they go; that's where your imagination kicks in. If you're big into music and you love classic rock, you're in for a treat and I eagerly await your review. If not, that's okay, you don't have to keep reading it, but I sure will keep writing it. Hell, feel free to skip the lyrics if you're unable to come up with a tune. I won't be devastated. I'm just writing this to have fun.**

**These go to eleven,**

**-SpinalTapSoundGuy**

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* * *

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**Gold on Vinyl: The Story of Sonic Boom**

**Prologue: The Quest Begins**

Rock and roll owes much of its influence to blues and gospel music, dating back all the way to spirituals of freedom sung by African-American slaves in the 1800's. The rise of the blues and the eventual development of rock and roll started in the American south (now southern UFM), during the 1930's, when a young black man named Robert Johnson recorded all of the tunes he knew on his slide guitar. He died young, but his music made history and influenced Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and several other musicians, decades later.

Since then, Blues begat Folk Rock and Bob Dylan; Folk Rock begat Rockabilly and Elvis Presley; Rockabilly begat the British (now Albionic) Invasion and the Beatles; the Albionic Invasion begat the Protest Era and Jefferson Airplane; the Protest Era begat Progressive Rock and The Who; Progressive Rock begat the Golden Age, of Black Sabbath, Queen, Boston, Blue Oyster Cult, Bob Seger, Aerosmith, Foghat, Heart, and Kansas; the Golden Age begat Funk, Disco, and ABBA; Disco begat Punk and the Sex Pistols, Punk begat Metal, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Metallica, and Megadeth; Metal begat Hair Flare, Europe, Whitesnake, and Dio; Hair Flare begat Grunge, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam.

After Grunge, it seemed that rock and roll was losing the spark it once had, as hip-hop grew into rap and began to replace rock as the popular music of the day. Britney Spears and other teenage pop starlets threatened to undo the progress that feminism had made in rock and roll thanks to legends like Joan Jett and Pat Benatar. Many people who fell in love with the old songs found refuge in the records and tapes of their favorite artists. But not everybody could preserve them forever, and time was not kind to the vinyl…

One thousand years passed since AD 2009, the spark of rock and roll never having been truly recovered. Earth became Mobius, the United States became the United Federation of Mobius, the United Kingdom became Albion, etc. And it is here in Station Square, in the year 3009, that two friends, desperate for music, embarked on an epic journey, a quest to revive the spirit of rock and roll…

_**To Rock and Roll**_

_[Fast tempo. Key of A minor]_

_[Drums kick off an acoustic intro, strumming the A minor chord staccato on each downbeat]_

_-  
_

_I don't have the latest album but I just wanna say_

_I think rock and roll has lost its way._

_All the sell-outs get hung up on their image, and it costs them their music._

_-  
_

_All we have now's Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears,_

_The former's schizophrenic and the latter bares her rear,_

_They just can't handle their fame, they only abuse it._

_-  
_

_[Enter rhythm guitar, bass, and drums]_

_-  
_

_I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, true blue lightning!_

_My vocal skills are so good, they're frightening!_

_I'm the fastest thing alive; no one can match me for speed!_

_-  
_

_To me rock and roll has no rival!_

_And I will bring about its revival!_

_This is my band; and this song is our creed!_

_-  
_

_[Chorus]_

_The music we are force-fed has no soul!_

_All of this new crap is getting old_

_But Sonic Boom works only for one goooaaalll…._

_TO ROCK AND ROLL!!!!_

_-  
_

_My buddy Miles Prower here goes by "Tails"_

_He's a kick-ass bassist, man, it never fails_

_When he spins his tails around, he can lift off and fly!_

_-  
_

_He's a rad technician and an expert of sound_

_All he ever learned was just from tinkerin' around_

_We love him 'cause he can make the groupies multiply!_

_-  
_

_Knuckles the Echidna here wails on the drums_

_He's a pretty tough bastard, but he's pretty dumb_

_He locked himself in his car on the way to record this!_

_-  
_

_It took us two hours just to get him out_

_And when we had a laugh all he could do was pout_

_The keys were on the dash; took him long enough to notice!_

_-  
_

_[Chorus]_

_-  
_

_[Enter keyboards]_

_-  
_

_Silver the Hedgehog is albino white_

_But man, that sucker's pure dynamite_

_And he's psychokinetic, through a strange twist of fate._

_-  
_

_He uses it for throwing things and bending spoons_

_At first sight I thought I OD'd on shrooms_

_He's our keyboardist and he tears up those 88's._

_-  
_

_Shadow is the greatest lead guitarist of all!_

_Beltin' out those solos on his Gibson Les Paul!_

_The licks that he lays down are so sweet that they're tasty!_

_-  
_

_We all call him Eddie Van Hedgehog_

_His mad skills ain't no hodgepodge_

_Shad's first solo I heard just about raped me! (AND I LIKED IT!!)_

_-  
_

_[Guitar solo]_

_-  
_

_[Chorus]_

_-  
_

_TO ROCK AND ROLL!!!_

_TO ROCK AND ROLL!!!_

_TO ROCK AND ROLL!!!_

_TO ROCK AND F***IN' ROLL!!!!!_

_[Song ends]_

**Station Square, at the crack of noon**

Sonic was awakened rudely by the buzzing of the alarm clock. He slammed the off button, annoyed. Why didn't he ever set the alarm to turn on the radio? He switched on the radio. A DJ's voice came over the speakers.

"Yo, yo, wat up dogs? We got some sweet mothaf***in' rap numbas comin' up so stay tuned to 94.7 Da Chain!! Fo shizzle!"

Sonic turned the dial. Now he remembered why he didn't listen to the radio.

He found a country station. What was that doing in Station Square? He continued tuning.

Pop. Ughh. From the sound of it, they were playing Fiona Arizona. He decided to switch before they started playing the Judas Brothers.

Classical. Okay, that was getting better. At least his ears didn't face constant bombardment from it, unlike so many overplayed pop songs, so it sounded fresh. After a while, he continued his search.

Jazz. That might be the closest station he could find to true rock and roll. He sighed and turned the radio off.

Sonic walked into the living room to find Tails on the couch, watching MTV. Sonic sat down to watch without a word. It took him about twenty minutes to notice that he hadn't seen any music videos on it at all. He was hoping to see classic videos from the 80's that he had heard about. But so far it was just two DJ's, a man with glasses and a busty, blonde airhead, yakking back and forth in unintelligible Valspeak.

Sonic finally spoke. "What the f*** is this??? Where are the videos? This sucks!"

"I know! I haven't seen any on here. It's like they're more interested in showing breasts than showing music."

Sonic laughed. "Well, if that's the case Tails, I'm not complaining."

Sonic did a double take.

"What the – Wait a minute! That pair looked familiar!"

"You recognize women based on their breasts, Sonic?"

"Like faces, Tails. Like faces. That pair definitely belonged to Rouge. But never mind right now."

Sonic dialed a number on the phone.

"_MTV viewer services, how can we help you?"_

"Hey, geniuses, ya got any music videos to show us, seeing as it's _music_ TV?"

"_Huh? What are you talking about?"_

"There's this thing called music. You heard of it?"

"_Whoa, okay dude. Like, mellow out, alright? Our DJ's are, like, working on it right now."_

"Yeah, they must be playing _Valley Girl_."

"_Like, huh?"_

"You know, _Valley Girl_, Frank Zappa?"

"_Umm, like, who is that?"_

"You work at MTV and you don't know who Frank Zappa is??? Well what about Jimmy Page? Led Zeppelin?"

"_Uhhh…."_

"You know, 'hey-ey mama like the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove!'"

"_DUUUUDE!!! Your voice is so awesome, I can see it, like, emanating from the phone!"_

"Dude, are you high?"

A crazed chuckle met him in reply.

"Man, you are f***in' high, aren't you? Look, forget it. I'm sorry I called."

Sonic hung up.

"Idiots, they are!" Sonic exclaimed. "Ughh, I need a mix tape."

Sonic switched off the TV and dug out an ancient chest, full of cassette tapes. Sonic took extremely good care of them. It paid off; the music on the tapes was thousands of years old. He picked a tape and put it into the boom box. The electronic strains of Van Halen's "Jump" sounded over the speakers. Sonic and Tails sighed, relieved to hear the music again.

When the song was finished and Sonic pulled the tape out, it disintegrated in his hand.

"Dammit, we lost another one."

"What are we gonna do after all of these tapes finally melt on us?"

Sonic thought for a minute.

"Well… maybe we can make our own music."

"Are you crazy, Sonic?? We can't live up to that legendary music! And besides, they all had great equipment! Van Halen had really good electric guitars; Peter Frampton had a talk-box; Brian May even crafted his own guitar!"

"Well, what do we have?"

Tails looked around and spotted Sonic's old acoustic guitar.

"Well, we have _that_."

"She has a name, Tails, it's Mary Jane. And besides, the equipment doesn't matter. I mean, look at Fiona Arizona; does she have guitars and drums and a full band?"

"Yes."

"Do they rock?"

"Hell no."

"Exactly! The most important parts of rock and roll are spirit and talent, not money and studio quality! Take Robert Johnson, influence of Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, and so many others; did Robert have all of that fancy stuff?"

"No."

"Did he rock?"

"Hell yes!"

"That's the spirit, Tails! We don't have to start out big; there's a lot of gold out there by people who only had an acoustic guitar, like Simon and Garfunkel."

"Okay, Sonic. Let's make some music!"

"Alright! We're taking it all the way to eleven!"


	2. The First Step of the Road

**Oops! I found an error in my history lesson in the previous chapter. Elvis predates Bob Dylan. Not the other way around. And speaking of Bob Dylan...

* * *

**

**The First Step of the Road**

_**Route 101 Revisited**_

_Instrumentation:_

_Sonic the Hedgehog – vocals, acoustic guitar_

_Miles "Tails" Prower – drums_

_-  
_

_[Folksy, blues sound, a la Bob Dylan]_

_-  
_

_They say every journey begins with that first step_

_Nothing starts up until you get up and move_

_That's what we have to do to make our music_

_We gotta keep playin', get into a groove_

_We got a road to follow, and we won't stop till were done_

_With 101._

_-  
_

_Humpty-Dumpty killed innocent men_

_The giant egg took things over and threw up a wall_

_A savior came along and made it all end_

_Humpty fell off his wall and he had a great fall_

_He tried to fight it, but he met his match on the run;_

_Down Route 101._

_-  
_

_God of Destruction, Echidna of Love_

_Nature's children, the lovely Chao_

_The violent father don't understand; he's just The Man_

_The Man attack them without asking who, why, or how_

_Only one place makes him realize he jumped the gun_

_And that's 101._

_-  
_

_Eternal light radiates from a god_

_But that light is just shadow and flame_

_The king tries to seal the evil inside his daughter_

_After the catastrophe, things are never the same_

_He didn't know you can't harness the sun_

_Beatin' down on 101._

_-  
_

_Moonlight make a hedgehog transform_

_He give people really awful frights_

_But inside he's still the same person_

_He fights the shadows that darken the night_

_Doesn't he know that we depend on darkness to come_

_And fall on Route 101._

_-  
_

_[Song ends]_

_-  
_

Sonic and Tails sat in the bedroom. Sonic was strumming Mary Jane, hoping a melody would hit him. Tails wasn't helping.

"Come on, Sonic, play something! Don't think, just play! Play! Play! No, no, higher… higher… higher… come on, Sonic, play higher! Not that high! Come on! Stop judging yourself! You're judging yourself, that's why you're not playing well! Wait! That's it! That's perfect! Keep doing that!"

"Sweet! I think we've got something!" Sonic exclaimed. "Yes!! Are you getting it Tails?"

"Huh?" Tails looked down at the cassette recorder. He had forgotten to press record.

"Dammit, Tails, I had it! And you forgot to record it! I'm not gonna remember that. Oh well. At least we've got some other good material."

Sonic rewound the tape and played back _Route 101 Revisited_.

"Wow. That's our very first single. What do we do with it?"

"We gotta get people to listen to it somehow," Tails answered.

"So, maybe, send it in to a radio station?"

"I guess, if any of them will play it."

"We'll just have to try until we get some air time. Come on, Tails."

Sonic and Tails took the tape and left the apartment to look for a radio station.

-----

They settled on the jazz radio station, Sax FM, because they occasionally played blues in addition to contemporary jazz. Sonic walked over to the reception desk. A middle-aged man with a gaunt face and long wavy hair greeted him. The name in the placeholder on the desk said _Stiller_. Sonic held up the tape.

"I have a tape that I'd like to hear on this station. It's not jazz, it's bluesy, kind of like Bob Dylan."

The clerk's eyes widened. He looked around to make sure that the area was deserted, and then he bent down and whispered.

"Do you think you're better every day?"

Sonic straightened. That was a line from _Keep Yourself Alive_, by Queen. He knew the response.

"No, I just think I'm two steps nearer to my grave."

The receptionist nodded. "Come with me."

He led them into a broom closet and flicked open a lighter.

"We can talk in here."

Tails spoke up.

"Hey, mister, I think I found a light switch."

"Wait! No, don't"—Tails flipped the switch and the light came on.

The receptionist sighed and closed his lighter, rolling his eyes.

"Alright guys, I wanna know two things: first of all, who the hell are you?"

Sonic and Tails introduced themselves.

"Now my other question: what the hell took you so long? Where have people like you been for the last thousand years??"

Sonic answered, "People like us? Wait… does that mean you're also a fan of rock and roll?"

"Hell yes! And if this tape of yours is anything like Bob Dylan, I don't even need to bother screening it; I'll sneak it onto the air next time I'm on DJ duty."

"Sweet!" Sonic exclaimed. "You won't be disappointed, man!"

"By the way, Sonic, what's the name of the song?"

"_Route 101 Revisited_."

The receptionist's face lit up and he high-fived them. "F*** yeah!"

He continued. "Okay, group name?"

Sonic and Tails looked at each other.

"Oh, how about… Hedgehog and Prower?" Sonic suggested. Tails shrugged.

"Hedgehog and Prower it is. Album?"

"It's just a demo tape, man. The only song we really feel confident about is _Route 101 Revisited_."

"Okay, a single. Now dudes! Hurry back to your house so you can hear it over the radio."

Sonic and Tails quickly complied, eager to hear the fruits of their labor on the airwaves of Station Square.

-----

"What's cookin', cool cats? You're listenin' to 89.9 Sax FM! We got a song by a new duo of artists, Hedgehog and Prower! They got the idea for it from the late, great, Bob Dylan. And if you don't know who that is, you better look him up, 'cause you're livin' in Squaresville right now. But look him up later, 'cause right now, we gonna revisit Route 101!"

Sonic and Tails couldn't believe their ears. The radio was playing something they had recorded on a cassette player in an apartment bedroom. And it didn't sound half bad. Sonic sang along until…

"God of Love, Echidna of Destruc— wait, that's not how that goes. Tails, I forgot the words!"

"What do you mean, you forgot the words? You wrote it!"

"I didn't write anything, I just sang what came out of my head."

"Geez, you're pretty poetic, then."

"And don't you forget it, buddy!" Sonic replied with a chuckle.

Sonic bumped fists with Tails after the song ended. The phone rang and Tails picked up.

"Hello?" Tails walked over to Sonic. "It's for you."

The man they had talked to was calling them from the DJ desk.

"Dude, I'm getting call-ins requesting to hear the song again! That was an awesome recording! You guys were born to rock!"

"You're f***in' kidding me! Sweet! Thanks, man!" Sonic hung up the phone.

He looked at Tails.

"We gotta write some more material. People are calling in to hear our song again!"

"No way! That's awesome!" Tails exclaimed. "But, aren't we, you know, finished?"

"Huh? Finished?"

"Well we got on the radio, right?"

"Yeah, but our song has gotten people hooked. They'll like it for a while, but soon, they'll want more. And in the entertainment business, you've got to give the people what they want. But we can do it. We'll give them more. We may even land our first gig soon. No, good buddy, we're not finished, not by a long shot. We've just started. And I say, start me up!"

* * *

**You heard Sonic: don't make the grown man cry, leave a review! XD**


	3. Live at Grounds and Sounds

**Chapter Three is up! (Duuhhh! Obviously, or you wouldn't be reading this.) Have fun!

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**

**Live at Grounds and Sounds**

_Route 101 Revisited_ had been a huge hit on the radio, and Sonic and Tails were hard at work composing new songs. Friends and apartment acquaintances greeted them with enthusiasm and people turned their heads to stare whenever one of them was on the street. Occasionally, somebody would ask Sonic and Tails if they were recording more music, but they kept quiet and recorded at night in their bathroom.

-----

Sonic was walking back to his apartment when a fast-moving object tackled him from behind, clung to him, and slammed him into the ground.

"SONIC!!!! OH MY GOD!"

Sonic heard familiar squealing and became aware of a body humping him. He looked up to see Amy Rose.

"Amy! Calm down! Good god! What?"

Amy laughed in response. "Don't you know?? You're on the radio, silly!"

"Yeah, I know."

"It's so cool!" and then she said very quickly, "At first I was about to change the station because I'm more into pop anyway, but I recognized your perfect, heavenly voice right away and I loved it, loved it, loved it!!!!" She squealed again.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it. Tails and I are actually recording some more stuff right now. Oh, speaking of Tails, here he is now. What's up, Tails?"

Tails walked over to them. "Hi Sonic! Hi Amy!"

Amy straightened up as if she remembered something.

"Oh, by the way guys, I've decided I no longer wanna go by the name 'Amy'."

"Umm, really?" Sonic said, confused.

"Since you've recorded some music now Sonic, you can call me Yoko, if you catch my drift…" Amy winked.

"Amy, haven't you heard?" Tails asked. "Sonic already has a love!"

"What? OH! I mean… yeah, I do already have somebody." Sonic responded.

Amy went pale.

"What??! Sonic! How could you do this to me? After we've become so close…"

Her hurt look changed to anger and she cornered Sonic against the wall.

"Out with it, blue boy! Who is she??" Amy demanded.

_Oh crap_, Sonic thought. _She's gonna smash my face if I can't think up a name. Damn you, Tails, why did you tell her I had a woman in my life?_

"I'm waiting…" Amy pulled out her Piko-Piko hammer.

Sonic's mind was blank. He couldn't think of a believable name.

"Fine, you cheating bastard!" Amy raised her hammer.

"Amy, stop!" Tails yelled. "If you won't tell her who she is, I will, Sonic."

"Tails, what the f*** are you smoking??"

"Amy, her name is Mary Jane."

Sonic stopped. _Ohhhh, that makes sense! Silly me!_ he thought.

"Well, Sonic, is this true?"

"Umm, yes! Mary Jane is my sweetheart. I love Mary Jane. She is slender, graceful, and she sings with delight when I run my fingers over every inch of her body."

Amy gasped in disbelief at Sonic's disregard for her feelings.

"I will wring that girl's neck!" Amy fumed as she stormed off.

"Good luck," Sonic said out of earshot. "Her neck is made of mahogany!"

Sonic and Tails both laughed.

"Well, what should we do now, Sonic?"

Sonic thought for a moment. "Let's get some coffee! Race ya!"

"Alright! Wait, what about raci"— Sonic was a block and a half down the street before Tails finished his response.

-----

Grounds and Sounds was a small corner coffeehouse that had a small stage. On open mike night, ambitious customers put on acts that included reading poetry, playing music, doing stand-up routines, and performing brief skits.

Sonic and Tails walked in and went up to the counter. The bartender recognized them instantly.

"Oh my god, it's Hedgehog and Prower! You guys are amazing!"

"Thanks, man, we're really not that special," Sonic replied modestly.

"Nonsense. Here, these are on the house."

The bartender handed each of them a mocha supreme.

"Enjoy!"

"Uhhh… thanks!"

"Oh, by the way," the bartender stopped them. "Ever thought about getting a gig somewhere?"

"You know, we've been waiting for an opportunity. Why do you ask?"

"Well, we have open-mike nights for anybody who wants to get onstage. It's not much, but hey, people know you. They'd love to hear you play something."

Tails intervened. "Sonic, I don't know if we have enough songs to play a decent gig."

The bartender answered. "You don't have to play that much. Just show 'em what you've got and they'll eat it up. Who knows? This might open up a lot more gig opportunities. And it might get your creative juices flowing. Wanna try it?"

"Sure," Sonic answered. "When is open-mike night?"

"Tomorrow evening; it starts at 8:30 and goes all the way to 1:00. Come in sometime during that time and play when you're ready."

"Okay! We'll be there!"

-----

**Grounds and Sounds, approximately 9:00 pm**

Sonic walked into the coffeehouse holding Mary Jane, and Tails followed close behind. They could see a man up on stage trying to do a stand-up routine, but the audience was simply not entertained. Finally the man exhausted his material and trudged off the stage.

The bartender walked up onto the stage and picked up the mike.

"Okay, folks, if this next act doesn't move you, nothing will. I think you all know who this next duo is. They just made a splash on the radio with a sound only a handful of people alive now remember. Ladies and gentlemen, Hedgehog and Prower!"

A majority of the audience picked their heads up. A few clapped in encouragement. Sonic took the mike.

"Good evening, everybody. We'd like to play a ballad for you all. I think you'll like it; hopefully it won't put you to sleep."

Sonic began picking some haunting arpeggios on Mary Jane and the song began.

_**Mary Jane**_

_**-  
**_

_Instrumentation:_

_Sonic the Hedgehog – Acoustic guitar and lead vocals_

_Miles "Tails" Prower – Harmony/Backup vocals_

_-  
_

_[Slow and haunting, a la Simon and Garfunkel]_

_-  
_

_Mary Jane, my one true love, you are my angel made of wood,_

_I desperately wish that you could be made up of flesh and blood,_

_But your spirit is all I need_

_And I know that you love me_

_The love that you make is utter music that feels so good._

_-  
_

_I found you at death's door; you were alone and landfill-bound_

_I took you in and was so relieved when you finally came around_

_You are my greatest pride_

_I will never leave your side_

_Let the whole world be enchanted with your sound._

_-  
_

_Whenever I was lonely, you seemed to always understand_

_To die in your embrace would be to die a happy man_

_Your music completes my soul_

_Your melodies make me whole_

_You burst into song at the mere touch of my hand._

_-  
_

_If I were to lose you, I would not know what to do_

_It would undo me like Napoleon was undone by Waterloo_

_Mary Jane you are my love_

_You fit me like a glove_

_I could not bear living here without you._

_-  
_

_[Song ends]_

_-  
_

The audience, and the people who had gathered outside to listen, were in tears by the end of the song. The customers were so moved that they all stood when they applauded. Sonic and Tails thanked the crowd and left the stage.

Sonic would have stayed longer to enjoy the attention he was getting, but Tails was getting tired, so they left shortly after. But on the street, somebody called them over.

"Hey, Sonic, Tails! Great song! Long time, no see!"

Sonic and Tails turned around to see Knuckles the Echidna.

"Hey, thanks, man! What's new Knucklehead?"

"Business as usual," Knuckles replied. "Actually, I heard you guys play back at Grounds and Sounds, and it was awesome! So, I was wondering: do you want any more members?"

"I might," Sonic replied, teasingly. "Can you play an instrument?"

"I actually have a drum set."

"On the floating island?"

"I bought it somewhere else."

Sonic raised his eyebrow.

"Well, I gotta do _something_ to entertain myself while I guard the Master Emerald," Knuckles replied.

"Now, Tails usually plays the drum set, Knuckles."

"Hey Sonic, I actually also know how to play bass," Tails chimed in.

"Well, how can we get one?"

"We can buy one," Tails replied, fanning out a stack of bills.

Sonic's and Knuckles's jaws dropped.

"We got paid _all that_??" Sonic exclaimed. "Uhh… sweet! Let's buy a bass! And Knuckles, you're in."

"Yes!" Knuckles shouted.

A bright green flash dazzled Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. The light vanished as soon as it appeared. A black hedgehog with red stripes on his spines stood where the light had been.

"Hello, faker. I haven't seen you in a while."

"Faker??" Sonic replied playfully. "Have you seen what Tails and I have been up to lately?"

"Oh, yeah, that was quite a number. Alright, well, your musical skills certainly aren't fake," then Shadow added with a smirk, "And that, Sonic, is the only thing you will ever hear me say to your credit."

"Thanks, Shadow, old buddy!" Sonic answered.

"Anyway, having two people seems kind of small for a band."

"Three people," Knuckles corrected him. "I'm their new drummer."

"Still, I would like to join if you have an opening for me."

Sonic was not sure if he wanted Shadow in his band.

"Can you play an instrument, Shadow?"

"Hold on." Shadow disappeared with Chaos Control.

When he reappeared he was holding an electric guitar. It was hooked up to an amp. Shadow touched the wires to his Chaos Emerald, and the amp powered on.

Sonic took a closer look at the guitar. It had the name "Maria" printed on it in raised chrome letters.

"What the – holy crap! That's a Les Paul!" Sonic exclaimed.

Shadow produced a pick and started playing. He shredded like nobody's business. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles applauded at the end of the solo.

"Shadow, get out of the ARK and into my band!" Sonic said.

"Good, good. So, now that we have more people, we need a new name; what should we call ourselves?" Shadow asked.

"How about Sonic Boom?" Sonic suggested. The other three groaned.

"Can any of you think of a better name?" Sonic challenged. It was met with silence.

"Sonic Boom it is!" Sonic said. "Now let's record some rock and roll!"

* * *

**As always, feel free to come up with your own tunes to songs. If you would _REALLY_ like to know what kinds of tunes were in my head, shoot me a PM and I will do my best to explain (I don't want to publicly post what tunes I envision, lest the information ruin the tunes in the heads of all the other readers.). So with that in mind, if you decide to ask me how _I_ think the tune goes, _please_ be considerate and don't go telling other readers who might have a melody already chosen. Private messages are private after all.**

**Thank you.  
**


	4. Mobian Graffiti

**By the way, I've decided to make rings akin to pennies. (So an amount like 500 rings is only $5)**

**

* * *

**

**Mobian Graffiti**

"Okay, everybody," Sonic addressed his band. "Are you all ready to make some music?"

Everybody answered in the affirmative.

Sonic started strumming a twelve-bar blues riff on Mary Jane:

-

"_You know, the music that I'm strumming is known as the twelve-bar blues;_

_It's oh so simple to learn, and simple to use;_

_Master this and we can play just about anything we choose!"_

_-  
_

"Well, that's the gist of it, at least," Sonic added. "You understand what the twelve-bar sounds like now, right?"

Everybody nodded.

"And I just came up with those lyrics off the top of my head." Sonic began strumming again. "You try it, Tails. It's easy!"

-

"_Well, I got two tails, and there ain't nobody else like me;_

_Yeah, I got two tails, and there ain't nobody else like me;_

_I'm an expert pilot and I love to build machines!"_

_-  
_

Still strumming, Sonic said, "You got it, Tails! Knuckles! You're up!"

-

"_My island is airborne, and if you saw it, you'd be shocked;_

_My punches are so strong, I can even shatter rocks;_

_When I get pissed off, I sit back and let my knuckles talk!"_

_-  
_

"Good, keep this going! Take it, Shadow!"

Sonic kept strumming. "Shadow? Hello? Your turn buddy!"

"Just a minute Sonic," Shadow replied. "I need to think of some good lines."

"Don't think, just sing!" Sonic insisted. "Make a fool of yourself; the rest of us did."

"Okay, here goes." Shadow gulped.

-

"_Maria and I used to live aboard the ARK;_

_Yeah, Maria and I used to live aboard the ARK;_

_But then the soldiers killed my baby and my life has been so dark!"_

_-  
_

"Oh, that's right, Shadow!" Sonic stopped strumming. "You've lost more than any of us have. Use it! Let your pain out through your music."

"Thanks, Sonic. But it hasn't really made me feel any better."

"Oh, the blues aren't about helping yourself feel better; it's about making other people feel worse!" Sonic explained brightly.

"That make sense," Shadow grinned. "Knowing that makes me feel a bit better."

"Okay. Let's get rockin'. Yo, Harry, we're ready to record."

The studio technician turned on the speakers and Sonic Boom began recording their first album.

-----

_**Green Hill Rock**_

_Instrumentation:_

_Sonic the Hedgehog: Lead vocals, acoustic guitar_

_Shadow the Hedgehog: Lead and rhythm guitar_

_Miles "Tails" Prower: Bass guitar_

_Knuckles the Echidna: Drums_

_[12-bar blues with bright electric guitar riffs, a la 50's rockabilly]_

_-  
_

_Smash a robot and pick up a ring_

_You wave it all around and you shake that thing_

_Do the Green Hill Rock_

_Do the Green Hill Rock_

_Do it, do it, all the time, never wanna stop._

_-  
_

_If you get knocked down you can just regroup_

_Hit the spring and do a loop de loop_

_Do the Green Hill Rock_

_Do the Green Hill Rock_

_Do it, do it, all the time, never wanna stop._

_-  
_

_[Bright guitar solo]_

_-  
_

_Well, here comes Buttnik like a troll_

_Nothin' to do but shake, rattle, and roll_

_Do the Green Hill Rock_

_Do the Green Hill Rock_

_Do it, do it, all the time, never wanna stop._

_-  
_

_Do it all day, do it all night_

_Do it from dusk to the morning light_

_Do the Green Hill Rock_

_Do the Green Hill Rock_

_Do it, do it, all the time, never wanna stop_

_-  
_

_[Song ends]_

**The Grit Pit, approximately 7:00 pm  
**

The Grit Pit was located on the outskirts of Station Square. It was a fifties-style diner that had outside drive-in service as well as indoor seating. A waitress with short wavy hair and cat-eye glasses walked over to Sonic's table.

"What do you boys want?"

"Uhh, just water for me," Tails answered.

"Water, please," Knuckles said.

Shadow ordered next. "I'll have coffee."

I'll have Chaos Cola," Sonic said.

"We have a problem with our carbonation unit. I'm afraid Chaos Cola isn't on tap right now," the waitress replied.

Sonic sighed, disappointed. "I'll have water…"

"Okay, and to eat?" she asked Tails.

"I'd like a Grit Burger with fries, please."

Knuckles and Shadow ordered the same thing. The waiter turned to face Sonic.

"And you?" she asked resignedly.

"I'll have a double Grit Burger please, with lettuce, tomato, onions, and mustard."

"Would you like fries with that?"

"Actually, I would like onion rings, please."

"Okay, we'll have your food shortly," the waitress rolled her eyes and left the table.

-----

Forty five minutes later, the four were still waiting for their drinks.

"What's taking so long?" Tails complained. "I'm starving."

The waitress came by and dropped off four glasses of water.

"Excuse me. Miss?" Shadow asked. "I ordered coffee."

"Are you sure you want coffee? You already have water, so coffee will be extra."

"But I didn't ask for wat"— the waitress walked off before Shadow could finish.

-----

Twenty minutes later, the waitress brought out four plates of fries. She set them down and then presented the bill. The Grit Burgers were on it, even though they hadn't reached the table yet.

"Miss, why are our burgers on the bill if we haven't received them yet?" Knuckles asked.

"And I ordered onion rings," Sonic added.

"I haven't gotten my coffee yet," Shadow added.

"And I've needed a refill for about ten minutes," Tails finished.

"The burgers are gonna be another twenty minutes. The bill is just there in case you want to take care of it ahead of time," the waitress said, rolling her eyes as if advance billing was common practice. "Although, based on your orders, I'll need to update it. Mr. Blue Hedgehog, I don't recall hearing you order onion rings, but if you really want them now I can add that to the bill. Mr. Black Hedgehog, in the future, please let me know what you want earlier and stop pretending that you ordered it all along. Coffee will be extra. Mr. Fox, you get one refill and it will cost 70 rings."

She left again before they could argue with her. They started to eat the fries, because it was a safe bet that they would be cold by the time the burgers arrived.

-----

Thirty minutes later, the waitress brought out four burgers and plopped them down at Sonic's table, along with the updated bill. She hadn't removed any of the items that they had not asked for. Their total was 4499 rings.

Sonic checked his burger. There was only one patty. It had a single wilted leaf of lettuce on it, no cheese, tomatoes, or onions, and instead of mustard, the whole thing was drenched in ketchup.

"Miss, this isn't what I ordered at all."

"According to your bill it is."

Sonic looked down at the bill. His burger was listed as a single with ketchup.

"The bill is wrong," Sonic asserted. "And we're not paying for the stuff we didn't order; you haven't removed any of the items we didn't want."

"If you didn't want them, why did you order them in the first place?"

"We didn't order them in the first place!" Sonic struggled to explain.

"Well, just come up with the money or you'll all be washing dishes tonight."

Again, she walked off before any of them could stop her.

"This sucks!" Sonic said. He got up from the table and walked over to the jukebox. He deposited some rings and selected a song. The machine didn't respond. Sonic pushed the ring return button. Nothing happened. Sonic started shaking the machine to get his rings back.

"Hey!" the waitress called. "Don't do that to the machine! You tryin' to scrape by off of other people's jukebox money?"

"It ate my rings! It won't play and it won't refund me!"

"There is nothing wrong with that jukebox. It works perfectly. Now either pay up or get in the kitchen and start washing dishes. If you don't decide in five minutes, I'll call throw you out and tell the police you tried to dine and dash."

Sonic walked over to Tails, Shadow, and Knuckles.

"I have the money with me, but we're not paying." Sonic whispered. "Tails, go get the manager. After I use the bathroom, we'll hear the manager's apology and then we're out of here. We've had s*** service tonight and there's no excuse for it."

-----

The bathroom was occupied. Sonic knocked and got a rude response from the other side. He heard whistling. The guy was just taking his time. The guy knew somebody was waiting, but he was content to just let Sonic sweat outside and inch ever closer to digestive meltdown. The toilet flushed and he heard heavy, leisurely footsteps over to the sink. Sonic ran in as soon as the bathroom was free. No sooner was Sonic ready to relieve himself when the handle turned and rattled against the lock. The asshole behind him hadn't even bothered to knock.

"Occupied!" Sonic called.

The knocking persisted, louder. "How long do you plan to stay in there?? I have to whiz!"

"Dude! Thirty seconds!" Sonic called back, annoyed. "I have to whiz, too!"

A new voice sounded. It was the waitress.

"Are you still here?! You've got some nerve, hogging the bathrooms! You have to go, huh? Well our other customers have to go, too! Honestly, some customers, and the way they insist that it's all about them…" her voice receded.

-----

When Sonic left the bathroom, he found the manager standing in front of his table.

"Ah, you must be Sonic the Hedgehog. Please, sit down, sir."

Sonic sat down and the manager began.

"Now, your friend here told me all about what happened, and I want to offer you my sincerest apologies on behalf of the Grit Pit. As a gesture of apology, I have waived your bill and given you each a vanilla milkshake."

"Thank you, sir. Maybe this place isn't all bad."

After finishing their milkshakes, they turned to leave when the manager called after them.

"Hey! Where are you all going?"

"We're leaving. Why?"

"You haven't paid for the milkshakes. Now, our ingredients are very scarce right now, so with the current state of the market, your total is 5000 rings."

_**The Grit Pit Blues**_

_Instrumentation:_

_Sonic the Hedgehog: Lead vocals, acoustic guitar_

_Shadow the Hedgehog: Lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals_

_Miles "Tails" Prower: Bass guitar, backing vocals_

_Knuckles the Echidna: Drums, backing vocals_

_[Bluesy, but straight rhythm, not swing, a la Jerry Lee Lewis]_

_-  
_

_Sittin' at the diner waitin' for my meal_

_I think I got the raw end of the deal_

_Been waitin' more than forty minutes for my food_

_I'm just singin' the Grit Pit Blues!_

_-  
_

_Shadow ordered coffee, he got water instead_

_The errors on our bill gave me pain in my head_

_Our waitress was in a really monstrous mood_

_I'm just singin' the Grit Pit Blues!_

_-  
_

_[Chorus]_

_We don't know what we did to touch those people off_

_They acted like they were being abused_

_It was all that we could do to keep our voices soft_

_And fight the temptation to sue_

_It's the Grit Pit Blues_

_-  
_

_It was fifty minutes later when my burger came_

_It wasn't what I ordered, nowhere near the same_

_The waitress said I ordered it but that's not true_

_I'm just singin' the Grit Pit Blues!_

_-  
_

_The manager came over to apologize_

_He gave us all milkshakes, cold as ice_

_But he billed us for the shakes and I disapprove_

_I'm just singin' the Grit Pit Blues!_

_-  
_

_[Guitar solo]_

_-  
_

_[Chorus]_

_-  
_

_[Song ends]_

Back in the apartment, Sonic was fuming; he had had 5000 rings ripped off of him.

"Sonic," Tails said. "I'm hungry. Can we find a burger place?"

Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow facepalmed.

* * *

**Bye, for now! Tomorrow, I'll be on my way to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi to help repair hurricane damage.**


	5. On the Road Again For the First Time

**Alright! Here's some surf music; Sonic and his friends are going to the west coast!**

**Note: Don't let Amy Rose hear this chapter's song.**

**

* * *

**

**On the Road Again (For the First Time)**

Sonic was woken up at about three o' clock in the morning by the phone ringing. He picked it up.

"Hi, hello, it's me, Sonic. Who is it?"

"Hi, hello, Sonic, how are you?" the caller responded.

"Umm, fine, I guess. But look here, it's three a.m. over here. When do you people ever sleep?? Just who do you think you are that you think you can call me whenever the hell you want?"

"My name is Jerry Mann. I work for a new record company named Chaos Records. I'm calling from Los Diablos, in Califia."

"Oh, west coast, huh? What is it?"

"I understand that you have a band. Sonic Boom, correct?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, people over here love your music. I was wondering if you guys would be willing to come out and play a halftime show for our pro football team, the Los Diablos Manta Rays."

"All the way out there? You realize that I'm living in Station Square, on the east coast, right?"

"Don't worry, the season's just starting, we can squeeze you in sometime."

"Ah, well, I'll talk to my band mates about it when I wake up. If I decide to do it, I'll find you there in Los Diablos."

"Okay. Thanks Sonic."

"No problem, just call me during the day next time."

Sonic hung up the phone.

-----

There was a buzz of excitement in the apartment next morning. Tails was pressing Sonic for information.

"A trip to Califia?? Wow! This will be awesome! Beaches, surfing, girls…"

"Yeah, this could be a lot of fun, Sonic," Knuckles chimed in.

"I hate to kill the mood here," Shadow said with satisfaction. "But we don't have any way to get there."

"Sure we do!" Sonic replied. "Finish eating and get your instruments! I'll get us over there!"

-----

Sonic led Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow down an alley next to the apartment. Parked in the alleyway was an ancient, rusted-out car that resembled a Model-T. It had a bench seat for three people and a rocking chair strapped to the top. Knuckles laughed.

"This piece of junk? Sonic, you've had this lemon for years. You know it's about to die. How can you be so cruel to it, running it all the way across the country?"

"Oh, ye of little faith. This baby is well up to the task, Knucklehead. Now everybody, load your equipment and climb in."

Sonic took the driver's seat and Shadow and Knuckles took the two other spaces on the bench. Tails, the fourth passenger, occupied the rocking chair on the top.

"Alright, everybody," Sonic exclaimed. "Next stop, Californey!"

Shadow elbowed Sonic. "Califia, you idiot!"

"Whatever."

Sonic started the engine. To everybody's surprise, the engine turned over and the car started. Sonic patted the steering wheel.

"You with me baby? You're gonna take us all the way to Califia!"

A loud bang from the engine rocked the cars suspension. The wheels slipped off of the car and the body crashed to the ground. The engine smoked heavily and died.

Sonic heard snickering behind him. "Not… a word… from any of you."

Tails spied a Volkswagen bus across the street.

"Too bad we don't have something like that."

Sonic looked at it.

"Maybe we could ask for it."

-----

The four walked up to the door of the building and rang the buzzer. A giant purple cat answered the door. He talked to them in a slow, aloof voice.

"Froggy?"

"Hi, Big," Sonic said. "Is that your car out there?"

He pointed to the Volkswagen bus outside.

"Yeah! I like to go fast!"

Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow exchanged concerned glances.

"Well, my buddies and I need a car, and we were wondering if we could buy yours."

"Uhhhh, I dunno…"

"Aww, please? We can pay you right now," Sonic held out a handful of rings. Big's eyes widened and he bent down to look at the rings.

"Shinies!!! I'll sell if you give me shinies!"

"Okay, how many rings do you want?"

Big eyed Sonic's handful of rings greedily. "The whole handful!"

"Really? That's all you want for it? Because, if you want, I can pay you more than tha"—

Shadow elbowed Sonic in the ribs.

"Here you go," Sonic wheezed.

"Shinies!!!" Big exclaimed. "Durr-hurr-hurr-hurr…" he chuckled as he closed the door.

They all paused for a moment. Sonic was the first to speak up.

"Well, you heard him. It's ours now!"

-----

"So, what should we call this thing?"

The others looked at Sonic like he was crazy.

"What do you mean, 'what should we call it'? It's a f***ing bus for crying out loud," Shadow replied.

"Well, it's gotta have a name. It's our private bus now."

"How about 'The Mystery Machine'?" Tails suggested.

"Taken," Knuckles answered. "Besides, 'Pimpmobile' is much better."

"Those both suck," Shadow responded.

"Oh yeah? You come up with a name." Tails retorted.

"Dark Chariot of Despair and Misery."

"Are you sh***ing me, Shadow?" Sonic chimed in. "We're here to play rock and roll, not some emo crap-metal."

A vein pulsed in Shadow's temple. "I have told you all before: I am not an emo. I am a Nietzschist."

"Look, let's just go with 'Magic Bus'," Sonic suggested.

"Oh, you mean like that song by The Who?" Tails asked. "That's a good name."

"I'm cool with it," Knuckles answered.

Sonic smirked at Shadow.

"Shadow?"

"Meh," Shadow answered. From Shadow, that meant yes.

"Magic Bus it is!" Sonic declared. "Let's hit the road!"

-----

The Volkswagen bus started with a roar, and a screeching noise came from inside the engine. All four of them sat tense, wondering what it was, when it faded away.

"Okay!" Sonic laughed nervously. "No worries! Here we go!"

Sonic moved the gearshift into first gear. It resisted him and a loud grating noise sounded from beneath the floor.

"Sonic, you're out of tune," Shadow quipped. "Oh wait, that's just the transmission, wailing at its inept driver!"

"Shut up, Shadow!" Sonic said, pushing the stick harder.

"Put the clutch in, Sonic, or you're gonna kill it!" Shadow snapped.

Sonic pressed the clutch in, and the gearshift lever clicked smoothly into place.

"Thank you, _Amy_! What are you, my wife??" Sonic replied. He began to apply gas while slowly letting out the clutch. He let it out too far and the engine engaged the drive shaft. The Magic Bus lurched forward. Alarmed, Sonic took his foot off of the gas and the bus stalled out.

"Nicely done, faker."

"Oh, come on, it's not like everybody knows how to drive a straight shift."

"I do," Tails piped up.

"Yeah, I don't think it's that hard," Knuckles added.

"GUN practically raised me on stick-shifts," Shadow finished.

Sonic exhaled sharply and flared his nostrils.

"Just shut up, all of you!"

Shadow grinned, satisfied.

-----

Five tries later, Sonic made it onto the road.

"Alright! Sonic, one, you guys, zero!" he accelerated. By the time he reached fifteen mph, the engine was roaring.

"Yikes, I'm only doing fifteen and the engine is already straining! Can this thing even travel at highway speeds?"

"Yes, but the engine is straining because you're only in FIRST GEAR! Shift _up_, dumbass!" Shadow answered.

"Fine, _mom_," Sonic answered as he moved the stick out of first gear. Sonic couldn't get it out of neutral and into second gear. The stick grated against the engine again.

"The clutch, dorkloser, the clutch!" Knuckles yelled out.

"Alright, goddammit, Knuckles!" Sonic snapped back.

Sonic shifted successfully into second, swerving around as he did so. As he accelerated, he edged into the oncoming lane. Sonic turned around in his seat.

"Are you guys about finished? Or do you have more backseat driving to do?"

Tails and Knuckles looked ahead in terror. Shadow whirled to face ahead, and he went rigid with horror and gripped the seat. A semi truck was coming at them head on.

"Watch the road, Sonic!!!" Tails screamed. "We're gonna crash!!!"

Sonic whirled forward and all four screamed at the top of their lungs. Shadow started hyperventilating.

"Chaos Control!"

-----

The Magic Bus reappeared on the city beach. It got bogged down in dry sand and the engine died.

"Gimme the keys, faker," Shadow ordered.

"Never!" Sonic started the car and floored the accelerator. The bus sank deeper into the sand.

"I'm the only one who can get us out of here. I'm not doing anything until you move over and leave the driving to an expert."

Sonic sighed and handed Shadow the keys.

"Fine. You know, it's not me."

"Uh-huh."

"It's the stupid transmission."

"Sure."

"I'm serious!"

"You keep telling yourself that. Chaos Control!"

-----

Shadow managed to get them back on the road at a red light. He started the engine and waited for it to turn green.

When the light changed, Shadow pushed the clutch in and moved the stick into first. It resisted him and grated against the gearbox and the Magic Bus stalled out. Cars behind him started honking.

Sonic smirked. "Having trouble, Shadow?"

"Damn transmission! The clutch stopped working!"

"Told ya."

"No, it was probably fine before you destroyed it, faker!"

The honks were getting louder.

"Everybody out of the van!"

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles exchanged looks of surprise.

"Don't argue with me! All of you get out and start pushing!"

All four occupants jumped out and pushed against the vehicle. It began rolling forward.

"Come on, don't stop now! Sonic, you're fast! We need to get this thing up to twenty-five mph!"

Soon, the Magic Bus was rolling at a good pace. Shadow jumped into the seat and pushed the stick into third gear. The rolling wheels started the engine and the bus had power. Shadow called out.

"I got it going! Everybody jump inside!"

The other three made it on board and closed the doors.

"Up past third gear, you don't really need a clutch to shift around," Shadow exclaimed. "If we can keep going fast enough to keep the engine running in third gear, we should be fine."

"So, what happens if we hit another red light?"

No sooner had Tails said this when the traffic light changed in the distance.

"Damn." Shadow said. "Alright. Let's get ready to push again."

-----

_**Califia**_

_-  
_

_Instrumentation:_

_Sonic the Hedgehog: Lead vocals, Acoustic guitar_

_Shadow the Hedgehog: Lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals_

_Miles "Tails" Prower: Bass guitar, backing vocals_

_Knuckles the Echidna: Drums, backing vocals_

_-  
_

_[Bright "surf-ish" guitar riff, a la Chuck Berry]_

_-  
_

_Well, we got a Magic Bus, but that thing's age really showed_

_It rocks around, doesn't like to carry heavy loads_

_But we figured out the bugs, and now we've hit the road!_

_-  
_

_We're outta Station Square and we're headed for the Sunshine State_

_We gonna play us a gig, and get a hotel that's first rate_

_Don't know if I'll surf, but I sure will look for a mate!_

_-  
_

_[Chorus]_

_We got a long way to go, about a thousand miles,_

_When we get there, we're gonna just go wild,_

_The west coast is gonna be a whole new world,_

_Full of beaches, muscle cars, and sexy girls,_

_Watch out, watch out, Califia!_

_-  
_

_My buddies could go surfing, and I would hang out on the beach_

_Visit the ladies, just out of the water's reach_

_I'd count the members of my band, and get a nice hot date for each!_

_-  
_

_I'd find a young lady, hot and full of lust_

_I'd send my friends off to have fun, so they wouldn't bother us._

_While we rocked and rolled in the back of the Magic Bus!_

_-  
_

_[Guitar Solo]_

_-  
_

_[Chorus 2x]_

_-  
_

_[Song ends]_

_-----  
_

"Romance is on me, guys!" Sonic said. "Just let me do the talking and I'll make sure everybody gets some action!"

"Can you really get dates for all of us?" Tails asked, skeptically.

"Well, it'll be no problem for me. No prob for Shadow either. Tails, you've got charisma, your chances are good too. And Knuckles has… umm… hmm… well, I'll think of something."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, dorkloser," Knuckles growled.

* * *

**I can't drive 55... because my car only goes 38!**

**Yes, Knuckles called Sonic a dorkloser. That's a tip of the hat to the classic Youtube series "The Demented Sonic Adventure". Check it out!  
**


	6. Furries Gone Wild

**What be up wit you? I'm afraid this chapter doesn't have a song in it, due to writer's block. It's still hilarious though.**

**Warning: Romance alert. Don't let this stop you from reading it though. The romance will be over after the next chapter.**

**And once again, here is the dollar-to-ring exchange rate: $1 = 100 rings.**

**Enjoy.**

**

* * *

**

**Furries Gone Wild**

Days after they left Station Square and started traveling across the country, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow saw little suburbs along the desert highway. They were getting close to Los Diablos.

Their time on the road had allowed them to brainstorm and come up with new songs to play, and they felt like they would be well up to the task to fill a twenty-minute gig. As they got closer, they planned to leave the Magic Bus at a car repair shop, order in a new clutch, play their gig, get paid, and use the money to pay for the clutch. In the mean time, they could spend a few days sampling all that the city had to offer.

-----

Shadow scanned the roadway for a decent-looking repair shop. None looked very promising. Soon they saw a sign that looked encouraging:

_Honest John's: We Won't Cheat You Too Badly_

It was the best thing they had seen so far. They decided to settle for it.

Shadow pulled into the parking lot and the four got out of the bus. When they walked into the garage, they woke up an aloof-looking young man with long greasy hair. He spoke in a west coast valley drawl.

"Like, welcome to Honest John's Body and Repairs. How can I help you?"

"We have a problem with our car," answered Knuckles, stating the obvious.

"Okay, what is the problem?"

"It's broken," Sonic answered hopefully, although it did not help.

"Okay, like, I know that. But how is it broken?"

Shadow finally offered something of value. "Our vehicle is not shifting right."

Tails interfered. "Come on, you guys, it's not that hard to identify the problem."

He sighed and continued.

"We need a new clutch for a '67 Volkswagen Bus that has a five-speed Autobahn 300 manual transmission."

"Oh, like, why didn't you say so, dudes? I understand completely now! Can I have a look at your vehicle?"

-----

They all pulled the Magic Bus into the garage and the mechanic had a look underneath the vehicle.

"Like, yeah, your clutch is pretty much destroyed. Someone's been riding it for years. And the transmission doesn't look too good either. It's like sometimes the driver forgot to even use the clutch."

Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow looked at Sonic, who chuckled nervously.

"Must have been the previous owner. Big's not exactly the sharpest crayon in the box!"

"Okay, so how much will it cost to get it fixed?" Tails asked.

"Well, I was going to just do the clutch, but your car really needs a new transmission, too. The total will be, like, 600,000 rings."

"What??" Sonic said. "We didn't come here for a new transmission! You guys are _Honest_ f***in' _John_! You don't do this to people."

"Hey, if you think this is bad, like, go across the street. This one dude brought in his car just to wash it, and they wouldn't let him drive off until he had bought new tires, a new engine, a paint job, and spoilers. They, like, royally screwed him over. Remember our slogan: 'we won't cheat you too badly.'"

Sonic and his friends looked at each other.

"We might as well. When is payment due?"

"It's due before the work starts. You can wait as long as you need to, but we, like, don't do any repairs until we've been fully paid."

"Alright, it will be a couple of days, then. Can you at least order in the parts we need?"

"Sure thing, furry dudes. Now, like, totally have some fun here in Los Diablos! But beware the forbidden treasure. You can look, but you better not touch it."

"Forbidden treasure?" Sonic asked, curiously. "Do tell."

"I'm talkin' about the tail, dudes. The nightlife!"

"What's the matter? Don't think we have a chance with the ladies?"

"B****es, all of them. If you see a hot chick around, like, keep your distance; she belongs to somebody. And if this somebody is anybody, he won't like you for it. And when people like that don't like you, you don't have very long to live."

"Are you kidding? Those ladies will be positively smitten with us! I guarantee it!"

"Oh, she'll fool you alright. She knows she's bait and she enjoys it. They all love to lure in unsuspecting prey so that their pimp can, like, totally ice 'em!"

"We'll take our chances," Sonic said as the four of them got their instruments out of the bus and started walking into the city.

-----

"Come on, Sonic! Don't you wanna come with us?" Tails asked.

The four of them had booked into a three star hotel. Once they had settled in, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow made ready to go down to the beach.

"I dunno. You guys go without me. I'm kind of settled in here," Sonic answered from the couch.

"Are you kidding me?" Knuckles said, knowingly. "Why don't you want to go?"

"You know why, Knucklehead. You know the problems I have with water."

"What are you, gay, Sonic?" Shadow challenged him. "F*** your fear of water, there are _chicks_ on the beach, for f***'s sake! You've got an opportunity for a wild night handed to you on a silver platter, and you're not going to take it??! Grow some balls, faker!"

"They won't go for me. I didn't bring a surfboard like you all did," Sonic replied.

"Look, use mine then," Tails said. "I don't need it to attract women. But no friend of mine is going to miss out on getting lucky when there's so much 'luck' waiting to be tapped!"

Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles burst out laughing when Tails said this.

"What is it?" Tails asked, confused.

"You have no idea what you just said, good buddy!" Sonic laughed. "But f*** it! I'll come with you."

Now it was Knuckles' turn to laugh.

"Sonic, you just said, 'butt f***' it!"

"Goddammit, Knucklehead, I'll kill you for that!"

"You try it. I'll be waiting for you in the water, dorkloser!"

-----

The sun beat down on the yellow sand of the Los Diablos coast. Sonic was looking around the beach while his friends played in the water. Before long, he spotted a group of four young women walking down the beach. They were two hedgehogs, a fox, and an echidna. And they were alone. No jealous looking boyfriends in sight. Sonic dashed down to intercept them.

"What be up, ladies?" Sonic said smoothly. "Are you all looking for a good time?"

He was answered by one of the hedgehogs. She was purple and had thick, curly, dark brown hair that came all the way down to her waist.

"We are, so, if you don't mind, we'll be on our way," The four of them snickered.

"Hey, don't be puttin' down this hedgehog. I got some sexy friends here. A hedgehog, a fox, and an echidna to be precise. But, if you don't wanna meet us, I guess we'll just find some _other_ ladies…"

Now they were curious. It was the fox's turn to speak. She flipped her short blond hair and in a bright voice stopped Sonic from going.

"Wait, I think we will come with you after all. I wanna meet you guys."

"Sweet!" Sonic replied. "Just let me know if I'm going too fast!"

-----

Sonic raced over to his friends and dashed into the shallows.

"Tails! Knuckles! Shadow! Get your asses outta the water! We got lady company! It's time to meet 'em!"

Tails hovered and Shadow skated out of the water and onto the sand. Knuckles stayed behind, staring confusedly at Sonic.

"Knuckles, don't you understand me? Lady company!"

Knuckles' expression didn't change.

"Come on! You know this! Female? Boobies?"

Knuckles remained confused.

Desperate, Sonic cupped his hands under his chest. Knuckles understood and exited the water.

When Sonic and his friends met the women, they all introduced themselves.

The purple hedgehog looked at Sonic and said, "I'm Hollyann."

"You don't say. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The fox seemed smitten with Tails. She went right up to him and extended her hand.

"How are you doing, handsome? My name is Jenny!"

Tails shook it and smiled weakly. "I'm Tails…" he answered timidly.

Knuckles found a green echidna with red hair.

"What's up, hun?" She asked in a bored voice. "You can call me Maggie May."

"Well, my friends call me Knuckles the Echidna."

Shadow had his arms crossed, smirking at the last one in the group, a dark red hedgehog with long, straight black hair. She had her arms crossed as well, and was smirking right back at him.

"I go by Shadow. Got a problem with that?" he smirked.

"Not at all, Shads. I'm Panama. What's it to ya?" she winked.

"Well, it looks like we've all met who we wanted," Sonic said. "What say we all split and get to know each other a bit better?"

"Yo, Maggie, wanna see something cool?" Knuckles offered.

"Thrill me, red boy." The two of them strolled down the beach.

Shadow reached up and put a hand on Panama's shoulder.

"Chaos Control!" The two disappeared from sight.

"Hey, Jenny, take my hand," Tails said.

"Don't you think it's a bit early to be holding hands?" Jenny giggled.

"But you'll need to hold on if you can't fly, like I can." Tails began to spin his two tails around and he lifted off of the ground.

Astonished, Jenny jumped up with enthusiasm and grasped both of Tails' wrists. They hovered up into the air and headed off to the dunes.

Sonic turned to look at Hollyann.

"Well, I guess that leaves you and me. Shall we walk?"

"We shall."

-----

Shadow and Panama reappeared on the streets, at the opening to an alleyway.

"Thanks for that, Shads. I hate the beach." Panama said. "The only reason I was there was because Jenny f***ing dragged me along."

"I know how you feel," Shadow answered. "Sometimes I feel like my friends drag me along, and then they accuse me of being emo when I tell them I need room to f***ing breathe. I'm not emo, though. I've tried to tell them before, but I am a Nietzschist. Not that they or anybody else knows who that is."

"I know who that is!" Panama responded. "Friedrich Nietzsche is a genius, isn't he?"

"You know about the will to power? And the _ubermensche_? You don't believe that life has some higher purpose?"

"Hell no," Panama replied. "F*** that. I just wanna enjoy the sh** out of life and go out in a glorious explosion of awesomeness."

"I think there's a connection here," Shadow said.

"I think you're right," Panama replied. "Wanna connect some other things in this alley?"

"Let's raise Chaos," Shadow answered.

Shadow walked into the alley with Panama when a gruff voice sounded behind them.

"Hey, you. With the face. You wanna, like, take your hands off my alley cat?"

"Sh**," Panama swore under her breath.

Shadow turned around to see a brown hedgehog with short black hair advancing down the alley towards him. At least a dozen other hedgehogs were behind the leader. All were armed with pistols.

"Like, what's happening, dude? You must be new, here, because you clearly don't know the rules around here. I'm Chaz, and I own these streets. Not legally, of course, but you know what I mean. That's my lady there, and you, like, shouldn't be touching her. If you let her go now, I'll give you thirty minutes to, like, get out of this area of Los Diablos. What say you, _buddy_?"

Panama cut in.

"Go to hell, Chaz! I'm not your anything! I've worked for you so long, and you don't pay me or offer me any satisfaction. I've got a good thing going with this guy, right now; I don't want you anymore!"

"Oho, you've made quite a mistake, Panama. If you don't watch out, you may just end up like this newbie here if he doesn't cooperate. What say you, newbie?"

"You heard her, she's with me now," Shadow retorted defiantly. "And if you know what's good for you, _you'll_ be the one to beat it!"

A scowl crossed Chaz's face. He raised his pistol.

"Any last words?"

"Yeah. I've got a question for you all," Shadow said. "Do you all feel lucky? Punks??"

"You, my friend, are a retard," Chaz replied.

"Go ahead. Make my day," Shadow answered.

Chaz addressed his fellow gunmen. "Waste them."

"Even Panama?" The second in command asked.

"She's worthless to me now. I can always find another b****. Now do it!"

Shadow threw Panama behind a dumpster and took the full brunt of the thirteen pistols firing at him. Seventy-eight bullets ripped through his body, lodging themselves all over. When everybody ran out of ammunition, they were shocked to see Shadow still standing, a defiant grin on his face. He wasn't even bleeding. He pulled a tommy gun out of nowhere, and the gang members all paled.

"Right," Shadow grunted. "You've all had your eights. So, I'll go ahead and have my eighty!"

Shadow opened fire, shooting right above their heads. Bullets ricocheted off the alley walls as all thirteen gang members retreated. When they were gone, Panama stepped out from behind the dumpster. She walked up to Shadow, astonished.

"Look at you! Don't those bullets hurt at all??"

"A bit. Kind of like how quills feel to somebody else."

"Well, do you need any medical help at all? A hospital?"

"No, but I do need help getting these bullets out. It's not hard, really; you could probably do it."

Grinning, Panama understood and pulled Shadow behind the dumpster.

-----

"Come on Sonic, why don't you wanna do it with me?" Hollyann asked. "You've told me you're an expert! I'd love to see you in action!"

"Yeah, I'm really experienced, but I tend to choke when people are watching."

"Oh, but people watch all the time. Look, we're outside, it's great weather, and the water's perfect for it. I can guide you if you want."

"Well, alright…" Sonic agreed.

"I promise, it feels much better out here than anywhere you've done it back home. I won't leave you behind. If I'm going too fast for you, just tell me. You ready, Sonic?"

Sonic picked up the surfboard he had borrowed from Tails. "I'm ready, Hollyann!"

Hollyann picked up her own surfboard. "Alright! Let's go ride some waves!"

-----

And so Sonic found himself clinging to a surfboard, floating in water that was above his head. Hollyann swam alongside him.

"The waves are a bit bigger here than on the east coast, but the technique is the same. Just do whatever you do back home and you should get some awesome rides!"

Sonic gulped. How hard could it be? He had seen surfing on movies and in TV shows. He thought he knew well enough what to do to get started.

"Sonic! Here comes a good wave! Start paddling!" Hollyann called.

Sonic paddled and he felt the pull of the approaching wave. The surfboard sloped downward and began to move forward. Sonic took a deep breath. It was time to stand. Sonic forced himself out of lying on the surfboard and eased into a stand.

Sonic was now standing on the surfboard, riding a massive wave that propelled him along at an exhilarating speed. Within seconds, he had figured out how to control the board. He darted back and forth along the wave and did flips off of the crest. He saw Hollyann next to him, smiling. Sonic felt like he was on top of the world.

-----

Jenny sat transfixed, playing with Tails' two tails.

"So, you're an engineer?"

"Well, not officially, but I build machines. I even have my own airplane!"

"Wow, that is so cool!"

Jenny paused as she heard Sonic's voice in the distance; he was shouting at the top of his lungs.

"_Yes! Yes! I'm doing it, Hollyann! I'm doing it! Standing up! And it feels so GREAT!!!"_

Jenny fixed Tails with a blue-eyed gaze.

"Your friend is banging Hollyann. Why aren't you banging me?"

"Umm, well, I…"

Jenny didn't wait for an answer. She glomped Tails and the two disappeared behind a sand dune.

-----

Hollyann was clearly impressed by Sonic's surfing. His fear of water had evaporated by now. He jumped off the board, intending to a handstand. But all of the fear of water returned to Sonic in an instant when he missed the board.

Sonic plunged into the water. He struggled to the surface and managed to gasp a breath of air and shout before sinking back down. He fought to stay afloat, but the current was too strong. He panicked and ran out of air. Darkness closed in around him and his memory began to fade…

-----

Sonic felt a tingling sensation on his lips. He realized that somebody was kissing him. He opened his eyes and saw Hollyann. He was so shocked he began to cough. Water left his mouth and he heard applause; a crowd had gathered around to watch the rescue.

"Sonic! I'm so glad you're okay!" Hollyann said.

"Uhh, thanks," Sonic replied, a bit dazed by the kiss. Hollyann noticed it.

"Um, that was CPR, in case you were wondering."

"You saved me from drowning," Sonic said. Hollyann smiled.

"No, Rick saved you from drowning. I saved you from Rick. He was dying to deliver the mouth-to-mouth himself," she motioned over to a male lifeguard with short blond hair.

"Hay, cutie pie," Rick said. "If you need anything, just come to me and I'll be happy to give it to yaah." He winked at Sonic, who shuddered.

"Hey, Sonic!"

Sonic looked up to see Tails flying over head with Jenny in his arms.

"You both have fun surfing?" Tails asked.

Sonic and Hollyann smiled knowingly at each other.

"Oh, we had fun alright," Sonic answered. "I know I did."

A green light flashed beside them and Shadow and Panama appeared. Sonic looked at Shadow's bullet holes.

"You look terrible, Shadow! What have you two been up to?" Sonic asked.

"Don't ask," Shadow began.

"Don't tell," Panama finished.

Sonic looked down the beach.

"Well, look who's here! Knuckles! Maggie May!"

"What's up, Sonic?" Knuckles answered.

"Knuckles, I have to ask you," Sonic began. "Maggie May is still with you, and she looks pretty happy, too. How did you not mess this up? What does she see in you?"

"Oh, it's what I saw on him, hun." Maggie May answered. "He treated me to a very exclusive private show!"

"You all might as well call me F***les the Echidna," Knuckles said. "Cause I got it where a man really counts!"

"Knuckles, you horny bastard!" Sonic said. "No wonder Rouge is always after your jewels!"

All laughed except Maggie May.

"Rouge?? Who's Rouge???" she demanded.

"Oh, Rouge is this guy who has a crush on Knuckles. He's so well endowed that it makes guys turn gay. Rouge is a guy," Sonic lied. This seemed to satisfy Maggie May.

"Well, this has been a wild day. Wanna see each other again sometime?" Sonic asked.

The four women all looked at each other.

"We'll see," Hollyann beamed as the four of them walked off.

-----

Back in the hotel, the four members of Sonic Boom gathered around the coffee table.

"So," Tails began. "What do we think of Los Diablos?"

A pause fell over the room.

"I'm in heaven," Sonic said.

"Yeah," Shadow agreed.

"I sure don't wanna leave," Knuckles added.

"I know," Tails finished. "I mean, this city's name is kind of a misnomer. It's so heavenly you'd think they would have named it, I dunno, Los Angeles or something."

"Yeah, it doesn't really make sense," Sonic said. "But the old name has been around for so long, no one's gonna think that 'Los Angeles' fits well."

Sonic was met with murmurs of agreement.

* * *

**Okay, I am moving into college this Thursday, so I may not be able to update as often as before. I'll still be here, though, so don't worry! There's no deadline to finish this story, after all.**

**Rock on.**


	7. Live at Manta Stadium

**Oh my. Chapters like this are the reason that this story is rated T...**

* * *

**Live At Manta Stadium**

**Chaos Records, Ventura Boulevard**

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow entered the giant record building. They approached the front desk and a receptionist greeted them.

"Hello, and welcome to Chaos Records. How can I help you?"

"Can you tell us where to find a Jerry Mann?" Sonic asked.

"He's in room 936. That's on the top floor," she replied.

"Okay, thanks!" Sonic answered as his friends made for the elevator.

-----

"I wonder if I'll see Hollyann again…" Sonic wondered aloud on the elevator.

"I doubt it," Shadow answered. "Besides, with women like them, it's okay to move on after the deed is done. You did get all the way, right?"

"Uhh, no," Sonic replied, worried. "Are you telling me you did?"

"Oh yeah. In the alleyway with Panama."

"Dammit. Well, surely I'm not the only one who didn't get lucky. What about you, Knuckles?"

"Are you kidding?" Knuckles laughed. "Maggie was all over me when she saw my package."

"Sh**!" Sonic turned to Tails. "There's no possible way…"

"I couldn't keep Jenny off me if I tried."

Sonic paused for a moment, dumbfounded.

"Well, f***!"

"You got robbed, Mr. 'Romance-Is-On-Me'!" Knuckles laughed.

-----

The four musicians entered the office of their potential future manager. The man sitting behind the desk was very tall, and had black, wavy hair.

"Morning, boys. I'm Jerry Mann, and welcome to Chaos Records!"

"Thanks, Jerry!" Sonic replied. "So, what's this I hear about playing a halftime show?"

"The first game of our season starts this Sunday. You all should play something there."

"Alright. We got some good stuff written now. Kinda surf-ish."

"Well, the first game always signals the start of fall, but down here on the lower west coast, it still feels like summer. The fans will love it! So, what do you need to play that halftime show?"

"The usual stuff," Sonic replied. "A stage, decent amps. It's not like we need a mockup of Stonehenge, or anything."

"Done. So, today is Friday. You'll be ready there when kickoff starts at 11:30?"

"Yeah. Now, before we go, there is the unpleasant matter of payment."

"Okay," Jerry sighed. "I am considering 300,000 rings for this gig."

"Dude, I've got a favor to ask you," Sonic began. "Our bus is broken and the mechanic told us we would need 600,000 rings to fix it. Feeling generous?"

Jerry thought it over for a moment.

"Tell you what," he said, producing a piece of paper. "If you sign this, I'll see what I can do."

Sonic looked at it for a moment.

"This is a record contract."

"I gotta make back that money somehow. This contract is good for three albums. I can make you serious money here. I advise you to take it."

Sonic looked over at Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow for a short time.

"We'll do it."

"Excellent!" Jerry replied. "Manta Stadium, 11:30 am. Don't get cold feet now."

-----

**Sunday, Manta Stadium, 11:18 am**

The four members of Sonic Boom arrived at the stadium fairly early, where a security team picked them up and escorted them to the skybox, available only to top donors and VIP's. None of them had ever been invited to the top box of a football stadium before.

Because they were located so high up, none of them followed the game very much. Knuckles jumped in surprise when he saw that Los Diablos was trailing by ten points by the end of the first quarter. By that time, however, Jerry rounded them up and told them it was time to get ready to play. Slightly apprehensive, they all exited the skybox and went below the field.

Sonic and his friends spent a few minutes warming up, each one on their respective instrument. Sonic strummed Mary Jane, vocalizing a bluesy improvisation to his chords. Tails tapped out a few runs on his bass. Knuckles beat away at his drum set, adding all manner of solos and fills to his rhythm. Grinning, Shadow hooked his Les Paul to the gigantic Marshall amps and began to play, filling the basement of the stadium with loud distortion. The amp was only set to level one. When everybody was ready to go, they all waited in the tunnel for halftime to begin.

-----

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to halftime. Please, give it up _foooorrrrr_…. _SONIC BOOM!!!!_"

The four band members squinted in the bright sunlight as a wall of applause hit them from all directions. Hundreds of thousands of people were watching them. This was their first huge gig. Sonic took the mike as Tails helped the sound technicians set up the towering Marshall stacks.

"Helloooooo Los Diablos!!!" he shouted into the mike. Applause erupted from the stadium."

"Are you all ready to rock???"

The crowd replied with loud affirmation. Sonic looked down and shook his head.

"No. Just no. Pathetic. I said _ARE YOU READY TO ROCK???!!_"

The stadium roared as hundreds of thousands of voices cheered and demanded music. Sonic sighed and turned to Shadow.

"What do you think, Shadow? Think they earned it?"

Shadow turned the amp volume up to ten and a loud buzz came over the amps. He played a note or two, to the delight of the stadium.

"Yeah. I think they want it badly enough. Let's give them what they want."

"Shadow's right! Let's blow the house down!!!"

After Knuckles tapped his drumsticks a few times at a moderate tempo, Sonic came in with Mary Jane and Tails joined him on bass. Shadow strummed away at his own guitar a wall of sound hit the crowd. Sonic approached the mike and began to sing.

-----

_**Run, Run, Run**_

_**-  
**_

_Instrumentation:_

_Sonic the Hedgehog: Acoustic guitar, lead vocals_

_Shadow the Hedgehog: Lead guitar, backing vocals_

_Miles "Tails" Prower: Bass, backing vocals_

_Knuckles the Echidna: Drums, backing vocals_

_-  
_

_[Slow beach beat, a la "California Girls"]_

_-  
_

_Oh, baby, don't be shy, come on up closer to me,_

_Can't you see that I'm in need of your love?_

_You're just about perfect, it's so easy to see,_

_We'd be a match made from above._

_Ever since I drove across the UFM,_

_The chicks have gotten hotter, now I'm so in love with them._

_Their foxiness just about reduced me to a child,_

_I got no doubt they sure know how to drive a man wild!_

_-  
_

_[Chorus]_

_On the west coast, a good time is always in reach,_

_Nothin' I would rather do than chill on the beach,_

_No need to run, run, run, 'cause I really am enjoying my stay._

_-  
_

_West coast girls have no idea what they're worth,_

_This must be heaven, and I must have died._

_Girl, I wanna know, tell me girl, do you surf?_

'_Cause I'm just itching for a hell of a ride!_

_-  
_

_[Chorus]_

_-  
_

_[Bridge]_

_I love, I need you, I still want to see you,_

_Don't ever leave me alone,_

_I'd never find peace, no I'd never feel the same, if I had to stick it out on my own!_

_-  
_

_[Solo]_

_-  
_

_[Chorus]_

_-  
_

_[Song Ends]_

_-  
_

Manta Stadium burst forth in applause. None of Sonic Boom's members could believe their ears. They had played one of their own songs in front of hundreds of thousands of people. And their audience loved it.

The rest of the game was a blur to Sonic and his band mates. Their music must have restored inspiration to the football team, because mid way through the third quarter, when the Manta Rays were in their red zone, fighting to defend their goal, the star quarterback broke through the visiting defense and ran the ball across the field for a ninety-yard touchdown. Sonic slapped fives with his friends.

Los Diablos was still three points behind when there were about thirty seconds left in the game. A visiting player attempted a pass to his teammate, only to have it intercepted by a lineman from Los Diablos. He scored another touchdown, and the Manta Rays had beaten their opponent with ten seconds left on the clock. All four members of Sonic Boom cheered loudly.

"Yes! They won! And we kicked ass at halftime!" Sonic yelled.

Without warning, a loud splash sounded behind him and cold liquid spilled all over his body.

"What the hell???" Sonic turned around to see Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow holding an overturned Gatorade cooler.

"We couldn't resist!" Tails said.

A disgruntled janitor approached them.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get red Gatorade out of carpet??"

Jerry Mann saw the commotion and walked over, producing a few notes from his pocket.

"I apologize, sir; here are ten thousand rings towards a new carpet, and five thousand for your trouble."

The janitor retreated, somewhat placated, while Jerry turned to Sonic Boom.

"Awesome show! You guys are gonna be big, I can tell!"

"Yeah, I guess we're just sexy that way," Sonic replied. "Now, about our repair money…"

"Sonic, I can get you a brand new tour bus. A bigger one."

"You could," Sonic replied. "But our bus has a name, for crying out loud. A _name_. I think we'd all much rather keep the Magic Bus with us."

"Alright, alright," Jerry pulled more notes from his pocket. "600,000 rings, as requested. And, as an added bonus, the Director of Revenue has given you a share of this game's ticket profits."

Sonic and his friends slapped fives again, and then accepted the money.

Jerry handed a slip of paper to Sonic.

"This is my contact info. Next time I hear about another gig, I'll let you know. Where you guys go, I go. So enjoy your success, fix up your bus, and we'll talk tomorrow."

The band said their goodbyes and left the safety of the skybox.

-----

The four band members soon got lost in the crowds exiting Manta Stadium. Groupies swarmed them on all sides, squealing with delight. Sonic was surprised when he realized he wanted to get _away_ from these women. He could handle any one of them individually, but in a crowd they were downright overwhelming. Just when Sonic thought it was over for him, a hand reached out and pulled him into a shed in the stadium.

A light clicked on in the shed and Sonic saw Hollyann standing in front of him, smiling at him.

"Hollyann!" Sonic exclaimed.

"You guys kicked ass out there!" Hollyann replied.

"It's what we do," Sonic answered. "Where are my friends?"

"Don't worry. We got them too," Hollyann pointed to Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow; with them were Jenny, Maggie, and Panama.

"Ha! I knew it!" Sonic gloated. "I told you guys we'd see them again! Yes! I'm awesome!"

"Sonic, I loved 'Run, Run, Run'," Hollyann said. "Did you say something about wanting a ride?"

"I might have," Sonic replied smugly.

"Well, that's good," Hollyann replied. "Because you all are going to get lucky tonight."

All of the band members exchanged glances in anticipation.

"Do you guys have a place?" Hollyann asked.

"We have a bus," Sonic offered.

"Does it have a stove and pots?"

"As a matter of fact, it does."

Hollyann raised an eyebrow.

"In that case, you boys have hit the f***king jackpot!" She pulled two bags from her purse.

Sonic looked at them. One bag was filled with dark green, finely ground leafy material. The other was about half full of dark red powder.

Sonic pointed to the bag of green material excitedly.

"Is that…"

"You got it. It's oregano," Hollyann answered. "Home grown, too. The cops don't suspect a thing."

"And that other bag," Sonic mused, "must contain that magical powder that gives you the highest of highs!!"

"Exactly. Chili powder!"

Sonic was salivating now.

"Want a teaser?" Hollyann opened the bag, took out a pinch of chili powder, and held it up to Sonic, who bent over to sniff it.

The spicy flavor of the chili powder overcame Sonic, and his troubles evaporated. He felt lighter on his feet, and everything seemed to shimmer ever so slightly.

"Yeah. This is strong stuff," Hollyann commented. "Let's get back to your bus and I'll cook up some chili."

-----

When the eight of them arrived back at the repair shop, they boarded the Magic Bus in anticipation of dinner. Hollyann had insisted that everybody relax and leave cooking the chili to her; Sonic and his friends had earned it, and the recipe was known only to her. Sonic slouched, content, and pulled out the wad of cash he had received from the gig.

"I got 600,000 rings, right here, and tomorrow, as soon as that shop opens in the morning, I'm gonna pay the guy and fix our bus!"

Everybody cheered at this news. Satisfied, Sonic placed the cash in a compartment on the bus.

Thirty minutes later, the chili was simmering deliciously. A spicy haze hung in the air, enticing and intoxicating the Magic Bus' occupants. Hollyann sipped some from the ladle and swooned.

"That's hot," she declared, to everyone's applause.

She began to ladle the chili onto hot dogs, handing them to everybody. When everybody was served, she raised up her chili dog.

"Everybody," Hollyann started. "To sex, drugs, and rock and roll!"

"To sex, drugs, and rock and roll!!" All raised their chili dogs, and took a bite.

The full incendiary force of the chili hit Sonic's taste buds immediately. His eyes snapped open and his pupils dilated. Saliva built up in his mouth.

"More…" he whispered, taking another bite.

Everybody enjoyed the chili. Sonic was the first one to finish, and he promptly went back for seconds. Relishing the fumes coming from the pot, he decided to forget the hot dogs and get a bowl instead. After he served himself, he deeply inhaled the chili fumes, losing touch with reality as he enjoyed the heavenly aroma. Staggering to get up, he simply picked up the pot and ladle, took a swig from it, and then passed it around the table.

"You… you know what w-we need," Sonic stuttered, "Is some music."

Mellowed out from the effects of the chili, everybody grunted in approval. Sonic picked up an Iron Butterfly record and put it on the turn table. The opening organ riff to "Inna Gadda Da Vida" came over the speakers.

Sonic looked around. Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow were inching up close to Jenny, Maggie, and Panama, respectively. Action was about to start. Sonic picked up a large mug and scooped it into the pot. He took a drink and then handed it to Hollyann, who chugged as well. They gazed into each other's dilated, jittering eyes, and tackled each other.

All four band members had locked bodies with their respective lovers and could not pull themselves away. Sonic was aware of Hollyann's body pressed firmly against his, but the sensation slowly and inexplicably faded. Without warning, Sonic broke away and shook uncontrollably. The chili had removed his inhibitions and allowed him to give himself over entirely to pleasure. His body writhed as he allowed the pleasure to have its way. Incomprehensible babble escaped his lips. He felt pressure and friction once more; Hollyann again. But it faded, and as Sonic opened his eyes, his world melted away around him.

Sonic sat up as the walls of the Magic Bus simply drooped and melted out of existence. The sun had risen, casting over the entire sky a glow reminiscent of the shade of orange marmalade. He looked down to find himself in a boat, floating swiftly down a river. He looked over the edge to see mist swirling and eddying on the surface of the water. As he peered more closely, he became unable to tell where the mist ended and the water began. Both substances shimmered brilliantly, dazzling him. He touched the water, and it felt neither liquid nor vaporous.

"Sonic!!!"

A voice was calling him, but he did not want to answer. He was feeling so peaceful right now.

"_Sonic!!!"_

Slowly and reluctantly, Sonic turned around to face the opposite bank. He saw a female silhouette standing next to a grove of tangerine trees. He recognized her as Hollyann. He called back to her. Hollyann looked up, and as Sonic locked eyes with her, he froze; Hollyann's eyes sparkled, shimmered, and changed color rapidly and sporadically, behaving like a kaleidoscope. The eyes seemed to grow and engulf him, and soon Sonic left the boat and was completely lost.

In the darkness of Hollyann's pupil, a flash of light caught Sonic's eye. He made for it. As he got closer he realized he was approaching a golden ring. Sonic reached out to grab it, but it grew immensely in size, and an invisible force sucked Sonic through the opening.

After Sonic passed through the ring, he found himself running along the bottom of a half-pipe trough. A range of bright, vibrant, iridescent colors shimmered and pulsated above him; some colors he had never seen before. As he ran down the trough, he collected rings that had been placed along his path. Suddenly, he realized that the colors were singing to him. As the blobs of color blended and throbbed, they produced musical notes that pleased Sonic's ears like they had never been before.

Down the trough, Sonic spotted a clear-colored Chaos Emerald, sparkling like a diamond. Before he could grab it, however, a young lady descended from above and snatched up the Emerald. She floated in the air and turned to Sonic.

"If you can catch me, you can have it," she said, flying away.

Without hesitation, Sonic jumped into the air and defied gravity. He soon caught up to the mysterious woman and touched the Chaos Emerald. The lady faded, as did the trough below, but Sonic remained floating in the air.

The colors faded into blue-gray blobs, and Sonic realized that he was looking at the inside of his brain. As nerve endings and synapses began firing all around him, the soothing music he had heard before morphed into a loud, grungy, acidic guitar solo. As he reveled in the music, the Emerald's power coursed through him. A few seconds later, he flashed from blue to brilliant yellow, and he took off.

Sonic felt the glorious sensation of flight, and he also felt that nothing would be able to harm him. Pleasure overcame him once more as he climbed ever higher. He felt he could fly all night long. As he increased speed and altitude, the guitar solo in his head increased in tempo and pitch. Sonic aimed for a light that shone far above him.

"Yes," Sonic muttered. "Yes. Faster…"

Sonic poured on the speed, his anticipation building as he grew ever closer to the light.

"Faster…"

He started shaking, and sweating. He forced himself to keep going. But he couldn't steer. He was losing track of the light ahead of him.

"No… help… I'm not there yet…"

A firm hand grabbed Sonic's arm. He could not see his savior, but he did not need to; he could tell it was Hollyann. She was guiding him to the finish, carrying him faster than he believed he could go. When they were feet from the source of the light, Hollyann swung Sonic forward and hurled him headlong into the light.

A lock broke in Sonic's subconscious and the guitar solo reached its apex. Every part of Sonic's body felt complete and absolute satisfaction. Nirvana overcame him in waves. He gazed at the stars around him and reveled in the pleasure. After a few glorious minutes of happiness, things changed in a heartbeat, and heaven became hell.

Sonic screamed in horror as he started falling. He could no longer fly and was now plummeting to his death. Moments later, he felt his skin crawl and looked at his body. Large black beetles were crawling all over him. Repulsed, Sonic swatted at them in desperation, trying to get them off, but they just reappeared without explanation. Terrified and through with it all, Sonic let out a bloodcurdling scream and then blacked out, embracing the sweet, forgiving bosom of unconsciousness.

* * *

**Confused? Ask, and (if I'm not too busy) I will answer.**


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